The best things in life are free. So is Perl. Although you can get a bundled
Perl distribution on CD-ROM, most people download Perl from an online
archive. CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, is the main
distribution point for all things Perl.
Whether you are looking for Perl itself, for a
module, or for documentation about Perl, CPAN is the place to go, at
http://www.perl.com/CPAN/. The ongoing development and enhancement
of Perl is very much a cooperative effort, and CPAN is the place where
the work of many individuals comes together.

CPAN represents the development
interests of a cross-section of the Perl community. It contains Perl
utilities, modules, documentation, and (of course) the Perl
distribution itself. CPAN was created by Jarkko Hietaniemi and Andreas
König.

The home system for CPAN is funet.fi, but CPAN is also
mirrored on many other sites around the
globe. This ensures that anyone with an
Internet connection can have reliable access to CPAN's contents at any
time. Since the structure of all CPAN sites is the same, a user
searching for the current version of Perl can be sure that the
latest.tar.gz file is the same on every site.

The easiest way to access CPAN is to utilize the CPAN multiplex service
at www.perl.com. The multiplexor tries to connect you to a
local, fast machine on a large bandwidth hub. To use the multiplexor,
go to http://www.perl.com/CPAN/; the multiplexor will automatically
route you to a site based on your domain.

If you prefer, you can choose a particular CPAN site, instead of letting
the multiplexor choose one for you. To do that, go to the
URL http://www.perl.com/CPAN (no trailing slash).
When you omit the trailing slash, the CPAN multiplexor
presents a menu of CPAN mirrors from which you select the one you
want. It remembers your choice next time.

If you want to use anonymous FTP,
the following machines should have the Perl source code plus a copy of
the CPAN mirror list:

The location of the top directory of the CPAN mirror differs on these
machines, so look around once you get there. It's often something like
/pub/perl/CPAN.

If you don't have reliable Internet access, you can also get CPAN on CD
as part of O'Reilly's Perl Resource Kit. In addition to CPAN itself,
the Perl
Resource Kit CD includes a tool for simple installation and update of
Perl modules. See http://perl.oreilly.com/ for more information.